Electrochemical cells have found wide use as the power source for operating industrial and consumer articles, both stationary and portable. With the advent of packaging articles as small as practical, the pressure has been placed on the battery industry to produce smaller and more powerful cells to be packaged with such articles. The cylindrical cell construction has been in use almost since the inception or introduction of the electrochemical cell into the market. This type of construction was followed by miniature button type cells, flat cells and odd shaped cells designed for specific applications.
With the advent of smaller portable devices such as cameras, radios, televisions and similar type electronic appliances, ultra-thin, high-energy batteries have found wide acceptance. With high energy density, high capacity lithium cells having a flat discharge, and a shelf life of more than five years, the advanced technology of lithium planar batteries expands the potential of product design and performance. Applications already utilizing the planar battery include such devices as cardiac monitors and thermometers, industrial equipment life gas flowmeters, hand-held computers and radio transmitters, and consumer products from pocket TVs to electronic scales.
All batteries are composed of a positive electrode, a negative electrode and an electrolyte. Cathodic electrodes, such as manganese dioxide, are generally fabricated by preparing a slurry containing the manganese dioxide and then forming it into a shaped electrode or spreading it on a surface of a current collector to form a thin film electrode.
Since the introduction of the electrodeposition process for painting metal objects in the early 1960's, the process has been adapted world wide in the automotive industry and the appliance industry to coat a variety of products. A detailed description of this process can be found in the following articles:
(1) "Review Article Electrodeposition of Polymer Coatings" by Fritz Beck in Electrochemica Acta. Vol. 33 No. 7 pp 839 to 850, 1980; PA0 (2) "Electrodeposition of Paint in Carbon Black Filled Systems" by Fritz Beck and Harold Guder in J. Electrochem. Soc. Electrochemical Science and Technology Vol. 134 No. 10 pp 2416 to 2424, 1987; and PA0 (3) "The Physical Chemistry of the Cathodic Electrodeposition Process" by Percy E. Pierce in Journal of Coating Technology Vol. 53, No. 672, January 1981.
The references are incorporated herein as if they were presented in their entirety.
It is an object of the present invention to use electrodeposition technology to provide a process for producing electrodeposited electrodes for use in electrochemical cells.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process for producing electrodeposited cathodic electrodes for use in electrochemical cells.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process for making planar geometry electrodes using electrodeposition techniques.
It is another object of the present invention to produce manganese dioxide planar geometry electrodes using electrodeposition techniques.
The foregoing and additional objects will become fully apparent from the following description.